Yummy Ingredients for Raising Delicious Kids
Parenting kids reminds me of preparing a deliciously satisfying but complicated dish! It is often daunting to search for the right healthy recipe with natural ingredients to make the dish wholesome with just the right amount of kick. What a relief when guests rave about the dish… even better when the dish creatively stands alone. What pride you feel at getting the recipe right.
True, the stakes are much higher when trying to get the recipe right when the dish we are tending is a child. As parents we search to find the ingredients to provide the right foundation for our children’s healthy development and growth. In my practice, and as a mom, I have researched many resources looking for helpful evidenced-based parenting information. I enjoy knowing that the “recipe” has been through a test kitchen before experimenting on our own kiddies. One such resource I often recommend is Search Institute.
Search Institute researched 40 developmental assets for helping children grow up “healthy, caring and responsible” including empowering children, setting boundaries and the importance of instilling values. In the mix of raising yummy kids there needs to be a fair amount of improvisation and cooking without a recipe. However, having a staple of ingredients such as, things you can do to help your child succeed (assets), may be worth stocking up on. But, who knew there were 40 of them! (For a complete list visit Search-Institute.org)
Lastly, combine cups filled with fun, love, patience, understanding and a dash of “thyme” for seasoning and you are bound to have a great dish of a kid!
-June Grushka-Rosen M.Ed. is a Life Coach, Educator, Psychotherapist and mommy of two. To contact – June@URextraordinary.com
Tags: 40 developmental assets, helping children, life coach, natural ingredients, parenting kids, right foundation, setting boundaries
May 9th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
What a great way to describe how to parent!
I will definitely check out the Search Institute web-site. Thanks for the tip.
May 18th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Thanks for the great resource for parenting. It’s reassuring to know we are already doing some things right, in addition to having a lot more to incorporate into our lives!!
May 18th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I also appreciate the analogy to creating a fine dish. I little bit of recipe and a little intuition makes for a unique creation. I will check out the Search Institute’s website. Thanks for the fun read and helpful information!
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:05 am
Thank you for this recipe!
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:36 am
Just one word: great!